ROME — People who have seen TheDa Vinci Code’s false and negative portrayal of Opus Dei and still
need convincing that the organization is actually a profound force for good in
the world might do well to take a look at Project Harambee,
a charitable program founded by the personal prelature.

The Rome-based project, born in
2002 out of gratitude and celebration for the canonization of Opus Dei’s founder, Saint Josemaría Escrivá, raises funds for proven educational programs in
sub-Saharan Africa.

The project’s goal is to help
Africans in poverty-stricken areas to help themselves, not only through
practical training but by helping Africans develop a new perspective on life
that will pull them out of poverty.

“What we want to do is to be
protagonists of their own improvement,” explained Linda Corby,
Harambee’s international project coordinator.
“Africans generally only think of the present and need help to plan ahead; real
poverty is about not having a perspective on their lives, and that changes if
they plan for the future.”

In just four years, Harambee has funded 24 projects and raised more than $1
million. These projects have included helping set up a training center for
young people on the outskirts of Nairobi, enabling 146 students to find jobs.
Another, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, allowed 30 seriously disabled
children to be cared for in a new center.

Other projects have included
helping rural women to find employment and offering vocational training to
inmates of a Kenyan prison, forced to live in appalling conditions that can
often lead to worse crimes.

“We try to change their lives, to
transform their lives,” said Susan Kinyua of the Harambee-sponsored Kianda
Foundation in Kenya, which trains women for business. “We try to return those
values that are basically African values, like being honest, helping other
people who are less fortunate than yourselves, giving them a way to change
their own life, to be in control of their own lives.”

Harambee(“all for one” in Kiswahili), is currently raising funds for four educational
initiatives in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Sudan and Madagascar. In
these countries, the organization is collaborating on projects run by local
Franciscan friars, Canossian sisters and members and
cooperators of Opus Dei.

All the initiatives Harambee supports are chosen for their “effectiveness” and
that they can provide “concrete answers to real needs,” said Corby. They must also be adequately staffed and already
have a minimum of resources.

And, unlike the wild caricature of
Opus Dei in TheDa Vinci Code, there is nothing secretive or elitist about the
organization’s work. All its finances and expenditure are detailed on its
website (http://www.harambee-africa.org), and its organizers
emphasize that Harambee is there to serve all
Africans in need.

Helping Everyone

Although Harambee
principally aims to help and serve the wider Catholic and Christian community
on the continent, some of the projects Harambee
supports are neither Opus Dei-affiliated nor even Catholic.

“We are interested in the dignity
and worth of every person, so that means we help not only members of Opus Dei
or other Catholics, but anyone in poverty and in need, and we’re open to anyone
who wants to help us in our work,” said Corby. “We
are assisting Sudanese nuns who are aiding Muslims simply because they’re human
beings, victims of a civil war, often refugees with children but without
education — it’s a chance to help them.”

The initiative also differs from
other charitable organizations dedicated to bringing relief and development to
Africa in that it provides not only practical assistance, but also encourages a
positive outlook on African culture.

“Harambee
is a new concept in that the organization tries to foster solidarity,” said
Manuel Fandila Sanchez, spokesman for Opus Dei in
Rome. “Its solidarity, in this sense, tries to foster a new perception of Africa
around the world, one that not only looks at the negative aspects of Africa —
its poverty, wars and disease — but focuses on the best that the continent has
to offer.”

As part of this drive, Harambee is running a competition, aimed mainly at Western
media but open to all, to see which television documentary producer can create
the best reporting on Africa. Prizes will be awarded at a ceremony in November.

The organization also staged gala
events in New York, Madrid, Paris and Rome last month not only to raise funds
but also to raise awareness of Africa’s great cultural heritage.

Harambee is funded by a variety of means.
Early donors were pilgrims who attended St. Josemaría’s
canonization, but now proceeds come mostly from single people, private organizations
and foundations. Practical help from professionals is also encouraged,
depending on their skills and other factors.

“The best way to help is to
donate,” said Corby, “but we also welcome doctors,
nurses, teachers and members of other professions who can offer their expertise
then, depending on their language ability and the length of time they are able
to offer.”